FLORESVILLE -- Police here have dropped charges against a Miami, Fla., man, which could have meant up to life in prison if he were convicted.

Armenteros Zenobio, 46, was arrested Oct. 5 and charged with manufacture and delivery of more than 400 grams of a controlled substance in Penalty Group 1. Sgt. Devin Keen of the Floresville Police Department arrested him during a 10:39 p.m. traffic stop on S.H. 97 East. This was after an investigation and search of Zenobio’s tractor-trailer yielded suspected narcotics hidden in a load of laundry products from Mexico.

Floresville police Chief Lorenzo Herrera said that certain aspects of Zenobio’s story did not add up, which prompted officers to investigate further. The driver reported that he had picked up his load in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and was en route to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Along the way, Zenobio said he would visit relatives in Houston.

Floresville police Lt. Jesse Evins said Keen had probable cause to arrest Zenobio, after some items in his cargo field tested positive for cocaine. The truck was seized, and officers, along with narcotics officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety and agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, spent hours Oct. 8 unloading the cargo so that the items in question could undergo laboratory tests.

“Once it was sent to the lab, it was found not to be narcotics,” Evins said.

Zenobio, who was released Oct. 6 after posting $25,000 bond, will be cleared of the drug charge. It is unknown whether other charges will be filed, since Keen said he also was driving with a suspended license.

Herrera said the tractor-trailer and its contents will be returned to its registered owner.